PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between TJ Welsh (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Hai Shang (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Welsh comes into the arena with Lets Have A War blaring out of the sound system. These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Welsh
vs
Shang

190 cm
37
199 lbs
24 - 27 - 2

192 cm
33
198 lbs
13 - 13 - 1

Good wrestling
Great elbows
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Excellent MT
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 24 - 27 - 2, fighting out of Los Angeles, TJ Welsh!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 13 - 13 - 1, fighting out of Los Angeles, Hai Shang!
The judges for this bout are , Timothy Bukovac and Jack Bonds.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Welsh tries to clinch up.
Shang pushes Welsh away with a front kick.
Welsh looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Shang lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Welsh shoots in but no luck this time.
Shang throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Welsh stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Shang goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Welsh fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Shang lands a jab to the head.
A left lands for Shang.
Shang is looking to slow Welsh down with leg kicks.
Welsh throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Welsh shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Shang as he jumps to the side.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for TJ Welsh. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Shang throws a nice inside leg kick.
Welsh tries to clinch there but Shang circles away.
Shang defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Welsh.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Welsh dives in and grabs Shang's left leg, looking for a takedown. Shang pushes down on Welsh's head and hops out.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Welsh will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Welsh doesn't manage to clinch there - Shang circles away.
Welsh is looking to clinch but Shang is avoiding it.
Shang lands with a hook. Welsh tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Welsh swinging wildly here.
Shang moves into range and lands a nice body kick.
Welsh fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Welsh moves out of range as Shang throws a body kick.
Welsh tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Shang swivels and escapes.
Jab, jab by Shang - just one landing.
Shang moves into range and connects with a jab.
Welsh tries to clinch up.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Shang! But no joy.
Welsh shoots in looking for a takedown. Shang tries to sprawl out of it but Welsh keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Shang manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Welsh throws a nice looking combination but Shang bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Welsh fails with a takedown attempt from distance.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Jab, jab by Shang - just one landing.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Shang keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.

Welsh has managed to clinch.
Shang on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Shang lands a nice elbow from the clinch.

It looks like TJ Welsh has been cut.
Shang landing knees to the body.
Welsh is breathing heavily.
Shang throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Welshs head.
Welsh tries to land knees in the clinch but Shang avoids the damage to the body.
Shang lands an elbow that stopped Welsh in his tracks for a moment.
Shang looking to throw knees to the head but Welsh is blocking nicely.

Welsh breaks from the clinch.
Welsh tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Shang swivels and escapes.
Shang keeps the fight on the outside.
Shang scores with the left hand. Welsh knows he should have avoided that one.

Shang gets tackled into the cage by Welsh. Welsh maintains the clinch.
Welsh lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
With the fighters up against the cage, Shang throws an elbow but misses.
Shang tries to land a knee to the head but Welsh blocks with his arms.
Shang scores a nice knee to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Shang lands a shoulder strike.
Welsh is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Shang is defending well for now.
Shang lands a good knee to the midsection. Welsh won't want to take too many of those.
Welsh utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Welsh tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Shang avoids it.
Shang lands an elbow inside that Welsh shrugs off.
Welsh connects with a knee to the head.
Shang looking to throw knees to the head but Welsh is blocking nicely.
Welsh blocks an elbow strike from Shang.
Welsh throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Shang blocks it with crossed arms.
Shang managing to block the knees to the body from Welsh.
Shang working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Welsh connects with a nasty looking knee right to Shang's face.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Welsh misses with a knee strike.
Welsh wants to stall.
Shang lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.

TJ Welsh's cut is getting worse.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Welsh has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Shang uses from the top position.
We could do with one of the fighters taking the initiative a bit more on the ground - they're both waiting to capitalize on a mistake.
Shang advances to half guard.
Welsh taking some punishment here, with Shang in his half guard.
Shang drops an elbow to the side of Welsh's head.

Welsh is rocked!
Shang is sitting in half guard. He's postured up and lands a nice elbow. Oh, Welsh is hurt! He's hurt bad - Shang fires away with more strikes and the referee jumps in to save Welsh from any more punishment! Congratulations to Shang! Great finish!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:37 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Hai Shang!